Ashokan Reservoir trail plan to be developed with private funds

KINGSTON >> Ulster County Executive Michael Hein announced Thursday that a privately funded plan will be developed for converting an 11.5-mile section of the Ulster & Delaware Railroad track along the Ashokan Reservoir into a non-motorized trail.

In a release, Hein stated the study has been commissioned by the Open Space Institute and will be done by the engineering firm Barton & Loguidice. The track corridor runs along the northern shore of the Ashokan Reservoir, from Basin Road in West Hurley to the western end of the reservoir near Boiceville.

The county owns the Ulster & Delaware Railroad corridor and tracks, but since 1991 has leased the property to the Catskill Mountain Railroad, a private, for-profit concern that operates separate tourist trains in the city of Kingston and the hamlet of Phoenicia -- on the eastern and western ends of the trackage -- but not on the reservoir section.

Hein has proposed converting the section of the corridor stretching westward from within the city of Kingston to Boiceville, which is at the western end of the reservoir.

Ultimately, Hein’s plan calls for linking the trail from Kingston, south to the Walkway Over the Hudson bridge, a state park that connects Highland and Poughkeepsie. The Hein plan would leave only the western end of the corridor for train use.

Hein’s plan to convert much of the corridor to non-motorized use has sparked a political battle between railroad and trail supporters.

On Thursday, Hein stated that the planning study will be “funded entirely through private contributions raised from the Dyson Foundation and the Woodstock Land Conservancy, as well as individual donors, including Ulster County residents Rob and Eileen Rominger, Floyd Lattin, Ward Mintz, and Bill Collins.”

Neither the cost of the study nor the values of the individual contributions was disclosed by Hein.

The study is expected to provide surveys, engineering inspections, and analysis of design alternatives for the track section, including potential locations for access, according to the release. Hein stated that development of the plan “will include a robust public input process for area residents, businesses, and communities along the trail.”

Hein praised the Open Space Institute for “invaluable leadership in expanding the Wallkill Valley Rail Trail and restoring the Rosendale Trestle. We are thrilled to launch this new initiative with OSI to advance the county’s vision of a rail trail network running from the Walkway Over the Hudson to the Ashokan Reservoir and Catskill Park communities.”